A Lovely Way To Burn
by writetherest
Summary: So much of Janet wants to protest, to continue holding on to Trina, who suddenly seems like a life preserver in more ways than one, but she manages to nod and force herself to stand up. / A slightly different take on Cabin Fever.


**Author's Note:** Written for the prompt: **Janet/Trina, cabin times**. Playing around with the canon of the Cabin Fever episode a bit. Title taken from the song Fever by Ella Fitzgerald (and a million other people).

* * *

"Oh, please, just one more game!" Janet is somehow whining and laughing at the same time as she looks from Trina to Tom to Bruce and back again. Trina thinks she might be trying for puppy dog eyes, but they're glassed over, so the effect isn't really there.

"Sorry, Janet," Bruce smirks, "but I think I'm going to go check on Susan and Roger."

"Oh, Bruuuuce!" She pouts, and Trina has to stifle a laugh, because Janet looks pretty adorable - even if that's a word she never thought she'd associate with Janet Thompson - with her lip stuck out like that.

Bruce is unaffected however, and drops the spinner to the floor beside her, heading for the door. Janet watches him go, still pouting, before she turns back to Trina and Tom. "We can still play, right?"

"What do you say, Trina? I'll spin." Tom offers with a smile that she knows exactly how to read. And there's something about the way that Janet is looking at her, the pleading need to just play the game one more time, to hold on to whatever it is that she's feeling right now, that Trina can't say no to.

"Sure. Why not?"

Before she's even finished talking, Janet has flung herself into Trina's arms, hugging her tightly. "Oh, thank you! Thank you!" She whispers against Trina's hair as though she's just agreed to give her a kidney instead of playing another game of Twister.

Trina pats Janet's back gently. "You're welcome. Now come on, let's play."

They untangle themselves from each other and stand at opposite ends of the board. Tom looks them both over with a smile before he spins the wheel. "Okay, Jan, right foot red."

It should be easier to stay out of each other's way with only two people playing, but by the fourth spin, Janet is sliding her leg between Trina's to reach a green circle and Trina is leaning with her chest very close to Janet's face to get her left hand on yellow.

The normally uptight housewife doesn't seem to mind the proximity though, and even allows her head to fall on Trina's shoulder for a few moments, to which Trina just raises an eyebrow at Tom, but says nothing. Tom continues to smile.

When right foot blue is called for Trina, she tries her best to extract her leg from Janet's, but ends up losing her balance and toppling over, taking Janet with her. They end up in a tangled heap on the floor, with Janet's head on Trina's chest as she laughs and laughs. "I win! I win!"

Trina for her part just strokes Janet's back languidly. "You certainly do."

Suddenly Janet sits up, her glassy eyes wide. "Trina!" She gasps out, reaching down and tangling her fingers with the brunette's. "I have an idea!"

Before either Trina or Tom can really process Janet's excited babble, she's pulling off her top. "What are you doing, Jan?" Tom asks, the picture of mellow, even as his eyes rake over Janet's bra.

"Let's go skinny dipping!" She grins gleefully, her fingers already working on the knot in Trina's top.

Tom shrugs out of his clothes while Janet continues to undress Trina. "Brilliant idea, Jan. Brilliant idea."

Trina just laughs, and lets her own fingers slide Janet's shorts down her legs.

* * *

The water is much colder than it had been earlier in the day, and Janet shrieks as she runs in, her fingers tangled with Trina's, dragging her along. Tom is right behind them and she can hear Bruce, Susan, and Roger laughing in the background. She's never done anything like this before, and the exhilaration of it - plus the high of the brownies - is thrilling.

She makes it in to about waist deep water, when her foot slips on a rock at the bottom of the lake and sends her careening. Trina tries to hold her up, but is pulled under too. The dark haired beauty seems unaffected as she surfaces, smile in place, but in her panic, Janet has sucked in a mouthful of lake water and is gasping and choking.

"Whoa, whoa. Shh." Trina says, pulling Janet against her to hold her up. "You're okay. I've got you."

Janet clings to Trina, feeling her cool breasts rubbing against Trina's, her legs tangled once again with the younger woman's, as she tries to catch her breath. It seems harder somehow now, with her body held against Trina's like this.

"Janet!" Roger calls as he enters the water with Bruce and Susan. "Are you okay?"

Janet coughs again and holds tighter to Trina, who has one arm wrapped firmly around Janet's waist and the other holding her head, her fingers stroking through Janet's wet hair.

"I'm fine." Janet manages, letting her head fall once again on Trina's shoulder as the younger woman rocks her gently in the water.

"Careful there, wild thing." Trina murmurs in her ear before letting her hand slip down. "You okay to stand on your own?"

So much of Janet wants to protest, to continue holding on to Trina, who suddenly seems like a life preserver in more ways than one, but she manages to nod and force herself to stand up.

"Sorry," she mutters looking down, making sure not to look at Trina or any of the others who - now that they know she's okay - are splashing and laughing.

Trina puts her finger under Janet's chin and tilts her head up, so she's looking Trina in the eyes. "Nothing to be sorry about." She smiles, and then, before Janet knows what is happening, she leans forward and places a quick, almost chaste - even if that's a word she never thought she'd associate with Trina Decker - kiss on her lips. "Now, let's go have fun."

Janet watches as she swims over to the rest of the group, splashing at Tom as he wraps his arms around her waist and spins her around. The whole world seems to spin for a moment, but she shakes her head and looks up to see Trina smiling at her from inside Tom's embrace.

"Come on, Jan!" Tom calls, and she finds herself swimming over to them.

* * *

Trina has no qualms about dropping her towel and standing naked in front of Susan and Janet as she digs around in her bag for one of the nighties she brought with her. Her fingers curl around the sexy teal one that Tom loves - and had put in her bag as they were packing - and she pulls it out and slips it on.

Susan's already got her white nightgown on but Janet is still standing in the middle of the room with her towel wrapped around her, holding what looks to Trina like a convent issued nightgown, with how frilly and conservative it is. It's got long sleeves and a high collar and is obviously made of heavy cloth. She says nothing, just offers a smile to Janet, but that apparently was the wrong thing to do because it sets the housewife off.

"God. Everything I have is so frumpy and - and - and ugly!" Janet practically sobs as she crumples the nightgown and heads towards the living room.

Susan for her part looks shocked at the outburst and apparently has no idea what to do in this situation, her eyes darting over to Trina as though this is her area of expertise. Trina lets out a soft sigh - Susan is supposed to be Janet's best friend not her - but turns towards her bag and pulls something else out of it before she heads for the living room. Susan doesn't follow.

When she reaches the living room, she sees Janet angrily tossing her nightgown - as well as her clothing from earlier - into the fire. "I hate this! I hate it!"

"Hey, hey!" Trina rushes forward as the fire flares with the new material to burn, pulling Janet back. "Janet."

Tears are flowing steadily down Janet's cheeks now as she watches the clothing burn. "I don't - I can't -" she looks at Trina and shakes her head. "I don't know how to compete with you." She finally whispers.

"Compete with me?" Trina says, truly shocked. "Janet, I -"

"You're exotic and exciting and beautiful and I'm just -" Janet motions to herself, "not."

"Janet," Trina says again, her hand coming to rest on Janet's cheek and her thumb brushing away the still falling tears, "this isn't a competition. And if it was, I'm sure that you'd win, just like you did at Twister."

Janet tries to pull away, but Trina grasps her arm. "You are Susan's best friend. Nothing will change that. And you are beautiful."

Janet shakes her head, ready to deny Trina's words, but Trina reaches down and tugs on the towel, letting it fall. Janet moves to cover herself quickly, but Trina's hands stop her. "Wait," she whispers, holding out the pale green nightgown she'd brought with her to Janet. "Put this on."

Janet takes it with a shaking hand and pulls it on quickly. Trina reaches out to smooth it down and to lift Janet's hair back, away from her face. "There," she smiles, taking Janet's hand and leading her to the bathroom, where there's a full length mirror. She stands behind Janet, her hands on her shoulders, and smiles at her in the glass. "Beautiful."

And in that moment, Janet believes her.

* * *

Trina and Janet both feel when Susan slips out of the bed, but neither says anything. They just stay still, laying together, pretending to be asleep.

It isn't until nearly fifteen minutes later that Janet's voice breaks the silence. It's soft and meek and she only says one word. "Trina."

Trina turns on her side, opening her eyes to look at Janet in the darkness. "Hmm?"

There's a tremble in Janet's voice when she speaks again. "I'm scared."

And Trina doesn't know exactly what Janet is referring to - if she's scared because she's coming down from a high for the first time or if she's scared of being in the same bed alone with Trina or if she's scared of losing Susan or any other number of things - but she reaches over and pulls Janet into her arms.

"Shh." She whispers against Janet's hair, just like she had in the lake earlier. "I've got you. You're okay. I've got you."

And Janet melts into the embrace, clinging to Trina like the life preserver she's somehow become in the past few hours, until she finally succumbs to sleep.


End file.
